Safaa Khatib

Field of Work

Director

Countries

Italy, Palestine, State of

Biography

Safaa Khatib (b. 1994) is a Palestinian filmmaker, photographer, and paper conservator from the Galilee village of Cana. She holds a BFA in Photography from Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design (2016), an MA in Cinema Studies from the University of Haifa (2019), and a Diploma in Paper Material Restoration from Palazzo Spinelli in Florence (2024). Her artistic practice brings together documentary cinema, photography, archives, and material memory, exploring themes of identity, family history, and the preservation of Palestinian visual heritage. Her acclaimed project The Braids Rebellion was exhibited at the Middle East Institute (Washington, D.C.), the Institut du Monde Arabe (Paris), and the A.M. Qattan Foundation (Ramallah), where it received the Young Artist of Palestine Award in 2018. She has participated in international residencies including La Cité internationale des arts (Paris), UNIDEE – Cittadellarte (Biella), Matadero Madrid, and Etxe Betea (Bilbao). She is currently developing her first feature documentary, Different Colors of Sabir, an intimate film that intertwines family archives, restoration, and political memory.

Awards & Recognitions

  • First Prize, Photography Category, Palest'In & Out Festival, Paris, France (2016), for Baghdad Studio.
  • First Prize, Young Artist of Palestine Award (YAYA), A.M. Qattan Foundation, Palestine (2018), for The Braids Rebellion
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